1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of mixers and more particularly to the field of portable feed mixers for cattle and other livestock.
2. Background Discussion
Feed lots are widely used to prepare cattle and other livestock for market. In operating such lots, the cattle are commonly kept in small groups in separated pens depending upon a number of factors including arrival time, size, breed, and intended market. While in the pens, the cattle are fed at controlled intervals once or more a day and their health and progress closely monitored. As an important part of the operation of the lot, the components (e.g., grain, fat, hay, barley) of the feed are also closely monitored and varied to prepare the cattle for market in the most efficient and effective manner. In doing so, the operator relies upon a number of considerations including the scheduled departure time, desired end weight, progress of the cattle toward the desired weight, and availability and price of various feed components.
Portable feed mixers are almost universally used in such feed lots to mix and deliver the feed to each pen. In operation, the portable mixer is typically moved from one location to another with different feed components being added at each location by chutes, front loaders, and the like. The mixer then mixes the feed components as it is being loaded and as it travels to the feed lot. At the feed lot, the mixed feed is then delivered in measured amounts into feed troughs immediately adjacent the cattle pens.
Although numerous methods and apparatus are used to mix the feed, they all strive toward a common goal of being able to quickly and thoroughly mix a wide variety of feed components. Efficient operation is particularly important in the environment of a feed lot where the mixer may be required to mix and deliver on a daily basis upwards of, for example, ten different feed mixes to fifty different pens in the feed lot. Thorough mixing is also important in this environment as each load of the mix is delivered along a trough with each of the animals either eating at one spot or over a period of time returning to the trough at different spots. In this light, if the feed is not uniformly mixed, an animal may receive too much or too little of a particular feed component. With this in mind, the present invention was developed. With the present invention, axially offset, mixing paddles are pivotally mounted between rotor sections and operated in a unique way to achieve a thorough and uniform mixing of a wide range of feed components in a quick and efficient manner.